Hudsonhubtimes.com - Foundation donates $500,000 to stadium

by Tim Troglen | Reporter

Hudson -- The Hudson Memorial Stadium project received an added push from a local foundation on Jan. 23 just eight days before a deadline to raise the money needed for the project.

The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation announced it will give a $500,000 grant to the project, leaving the project about $500,000 short of the goal, according to Rick Kellar, president of the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation.

The following day, the school district announced the Burton D. Morgan Foundation will donate $50,000 to the stadium project.

The Hudson City Schools Foundation has set a Jan. 31 deadline to raise $5.5 million so the 5,000-seat stadium proposed at the site of the Hudson High School track can be ready in August.

The bulk of the funding for the project so far has come from the Joy and Thomas Murdough Foundation, which started the fundraising efforts with a $2 million donation. The Murdough Foundation has pledged another $1 million contingent on matching funds being raised.

The $500,000 Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation grant will be given over a five-year period, Kellar said.

Officials for the foundation, which gives grants to support mental health, the arts and education, thought the project followed the vision of founder Margaret Clark Morgan and her husband, Burton D. Morgan, who were both supporters of education, Kellar said.

The grant is about $200,000 more than the foundation typically gives per year for education, he added.

"The Board thought it was important, as a foundation, to support the project," Kellar said. "There is a generation of students that will be touched by this project."

The project is one of the most important educational projects in Hudson "in many years," according to Kellar.

"We really appreciate the Margaret Clark Morgan donation," said Ed Sogan, president of the Hudson City Schools Foundation. "That sure gets us within the $5 million mark."

Sogan said the schools foundation has been "working feverishly" on getting more donors and pledges for various naming rights.

"This didn't happen all of a sudden," Sogan said. "We made three presentations to the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation over two years."

Sogan said he is pleased with the donation and progress made and is working to get the remaining funding.

"We are still accepting donations," Sogan said. "This is very dear to us."

Sogan said the stadium is to be built entirely with private funds.

It will include a new track, an artificial turf playing field, a press box, and concession stands and restrooms for both the home and visitor sections, according to the Hudson City Schools Foundation.

For information about the stadium project, contact Sue Wimer at shwimer1@gmail.com. Visit www.hudsonschoolsfoundation.com to download a donation form or mail a donation to Hudson Memorial Stadium Fund, c/o 49 E. Main St., Hudson, OH 44236.